Please Say a Prayer for Sweet Smiling Sally and post something BLUE

I dropped by to visit Smiling Sally's Blue Monday this afternoon.  I wasn't going to post anything BLUE, but just visit Sally and many of her loyal followers that post to Blue Monday every week.  Sally has been in the hospital recently, and I wanted to check on how she was doing. 

Sally's granddaughters have posted that Sally is not doing well. She is in the hospital in ICU after having had another surgery due to complications from the first. If you know Sally, or even if you don't, drop by her blog linked HERE and say a little prayer that she recovers and is home with her loving family soon...

In Sally's honor... I'm posting my BLUE striped yellow ware bowl I found while thrifting with Candy a few weeks ago... and a little angel beside it as my prayer for her recovery...

We love you Sally... down here in French Lique...

What Chair is This?!

This morning I'm linking to Miss Mustard Seed's Furniture Feature Friday...and Cindy's Show & Tell Friday... drop by and see who else is joining in the fun!

My furniture, is outdoor furniture... I purchased this pair for $30 each at Twice Blessed Thrift Shoppe in San Marcos, Texas about a year ago... Twice Blessed is a thrift shoppe run by the Methodist Church in San Marcos and all proceeds go to charity... and they ALWAYS have really great stuff!

These girls were in my booth for about six months with a selling price of $100 for the pair... they never sold... so when I closed my booth in December, I brought them home and sat them out in the yard under a big oak tree until...

until our family cookout on Memorial Day in May... We needed more seating on the back porch where everyone seemed to end up that day...

So my nephew hauled the girls from the yard to the porch, where they have remained for the past month... The previous owner had painted them white.. but as the paint began to peel I realized their original color must have been a dark kelly green...

I adore the scrolls and twists of metal... Other than falling in love with the chairs, I really didn't know anything about them when I purchased them... and put zero effort into finding out anything about them... which is unusual for me... but...

I just knew I liked them and that was all that mattered... Isn't that armrest just gorgeous!

I've purchased some pretty aqua toile to make chair pads... this wire seat isn't overly comfortable...

this is the chair base under the seat... crusted with white paint... so I've already decided to take the white paint off... and then...

My Country Living magazine arrived just in time... and
I did the happy dance...

Right there at the top of page 47 in the "What Is It" and "What's It's Worth" section...

My chair...
circa 1970's Peacock Chair...

What it's worth... $375 for the pair... I paid $60 for the pair... SCORE!!!

(more happy dance now... )

Now my dilemma... should I take them back to the original green or..

should I paint them...

White

Cottage White

Apple Green

Ballet Pink

Hot Pink
or
Aqua

Tell me what you think... I'd love to know...

Just enjoying the summer and living thrifty down here in French Lique...

Welcome to the Summer Porch Party in French Lique...

Welcome to the porch party at French Lique... and when you finish partying here... drop over to Rhondi's and see all the other nice folks participating in Rhondi's Porch Party for Summer 2011...

 The flowers are all in bloom and inviting you in...  and here's a chair for you... I just painted it yesterday morning...

or maybe you'll like this seat better... you get to choose.
The table has been set with all the things you like... lots of vintage china, silver, and depression glass... and a pretty vase of pure white roses...
Don't these say Porch Party to you? How about a bowl full of strawberries or maybe a bowl of cherries? Go ahead... take one... they're delicious!
Here's that artsy shot you've been waiting for... a guest's eye view...

Yep... that porch furniture painted a nice cottage white.. just divine...

Would you like a glass of Saint Gen's White Zin? See a cake plate can also serve as a nice bar tray for some pretty wine glasses...

Then after lunch... we'll mozy on over to the shady end of the porch for a little afternoon tea...  Nice and shady and ready for us to while away the afternoon... chatting and drinking some lovely Raspberry tea... One lump or two? I love sitting here and listening to the wind chimes... or maybe even taking a summer afternoon nap...But today we're just too busy to sleep... Here... how 'bout a sip... Ricky got this pretty vintage china for me at an estate auction... it's called Coralbel...

  Well... I'm still waiting... but no body's here? I'm sure the invitations said 11:30 a.m. sharp for lunch! Oh no! The invitations! Did I forget to mail them? I've just been so busy painting?!

Oh well... I'll pour myself another glass of nice cool wine and sit here and daydream for a while... It's a good thing I forgot to cook too!

Guess I'll tuck my little pretties away... until next time...Maybe Candy and BJ will come over early and help me get organized for our next Porch Party...

I love a porch party... down here in French Lique...

The big plan for the laundry room... on Blue Monday... Sarah's House inspiration!

I absolutely L-O-V-E Sarah Richardson... I especially enjoy her series, "Sarah's House"... This laundry room is in a suburban back-split home built in the 1960's... I've been wanting to decorate my plain-Jane laundry room for years... and so... now the laundry room is my next project...

Sarah's House Season 2 basement laundry room... My inspiration!

The hardest thing to find... a comparable glass tile.. but I did find it... on eBay...

So my newly decorated guest room has become the staging room for the new laundry room...

 Lots of yellow and BLUE.... stay tuned for the grand finale'... down here in French Lique...
I'm linking to Sally's Blue Monday... drop by to see who else is Blue this Monday!

Pink Saturday... Pink Peonies...

My favorite flower... Peony... my favorite color... Pink...

When I found the beautiful Pink Peonies in my local HEB Grocery Store... I thought I'd died and gone to Heaven... 

When you live in South Texas... and Peonies is your favorite flower, it's a lot like not having the  Christmas spirit without snow on the ground... In South Texas... we don't get snow and we can't grow Peonies... But every once in a while... just like the snow... we get lucky and a few Peonies make it this far south.



Scratch & Sniff



So thank you, you wonderful Northern and North Western gardeners... for growing these wonderful, lucious, fragrant flowers... and for sending a few of them my way...

down here in French Lique!...

I'm joining the wonderful Miss Beverly for Pink Saturday... Please drop by and see who else is playing today...

The Perfect Country Cottage Guestroom... Inspired by Cottage White...

I love color. When I was a teenager, I painted my bedroom apple green... with white trim... I thought it was beautiful... But as my tastes have developed over the past 40-some odd years... I've realized that I LOVE the color of .... White...

and with that in mind... I set out to create a beautiful Country Cottage White Guestroom...

I collected lots of old frames and turned them into wall art.  I found this wonderful white cottage headboard online... it was perfect... and a cozy white matelasse spread... Then moved my dressing table from the Master to the Guest... not quite finished... I'm making a girlie white skirt to dress it up...

Added just a few table top accessories... some vintage... some not... an antique tri-fold mirror, a vintage crystal lamp... and a pretty-trendy perfume bottle... purchased empty for $3... I just wanted the look!

The walls are painted a creamy cottage white... the frames various shades of white, cream and gold... some their original patina... some not...

My grandmothers bone white heels that she wore to church... I like to tuck them under the chair... just as though she'd just slipped them off before putting on her little pink house shoes... and a luscious Flokati rug...

This night stand... originally french white with gold trim... I painted it purest white and added glass handles and a glass top... another garage sale lamp with a new crisp white shade... and that photo... my grandmother holding me on the day of my Baptism...

and my vintage crystal chandelier... inspired by Cindy's Romantic Home...

The perfect little Cottage White Guestroom... down here in French Lique...

I joining in White Wednesday today... just for fun!  Drop by and see who else is playing!

The Perfect Country Cottage Guestroom... continued from Blue Monday

The Second Time Around.... or maybe 3rd or 4th... but I love this wall full of mostly empty frames... I left some their original patina... and some I painted white or cottage white... and there's even an Aqua Blue which is my punch of color for this Cottage White guestroom...

This just might be my favorite wall decor in my house! Each frame, gathered over time from various thrift stores, antique malls and garage sale or two... My cost limit for frames is $5, and most of these... I paid less... so the cost of this near-pictureless wall of cottage frames.... less than $50... and that includes the one with the picture!   

Recycled and Thrifty... that's what we love... down here in French Lique!

A little Aqua Blue in the perfect Country Cottage Guest Room... It's a sneak peek!

I don't know about you... but for me... when I'm decorating a room... I always start with my inspiration piece...

For my guestroom, this pretty quilt that Candy spotted, and I purchased, one day late last year, while doing some serious thrifty shopping at Twice Blessed in San Marcos... Quilt and 3- shams.... $15... The fabric on the right is ready to create a cushion for my vanity chair...

Then a couple of months ago while flipping through one of my favorite magazines... A painting of a group of bathers at seaside inspired me to go on the hunt... It took a few weeks, but once again Twice Blessed had the perfect thing... there was a grouping of 4, but I only needed one... so I picked this one... a beautiful seaside scape... $12... yes... that included the frame!

This pretty little train case found at Beverly's Glory B's in Geronimo... $13! This is the original color... right now it's full of mercury glass ornaments... but I'm thinking of displaying something else in it... any ideas?

and finally... since we do live in South Texas, and I so brilliantly decided to replace the ceiling fan with a shabby crystal chandelier... I added this little tabletop vintage oscillating fan... bought on eBay years ago... I think I paid about $15 plus shipping...

So that's the teaser... a little aqua BLUE on Blue Monday... Now go visit Sally and see who else is BLUE today... and stop back by French Lique when you get a chance... I promise to reveal the perfect Country Cottage Guestroom real soon...  down here in French Lique!

Ann Skelton

I received an email from Ann's grandaughter, Brittany, today... letting me know that Ann had passed away... I am posting her email here, just in case you were missed. If you 'd like to link to Ann's blog, Life at Ann's Place... here's the link.

This is Brittany, Ann's granddaughter. I wanted to inform you that Ann passed away peacefully in her sleep yesterday morning. We know that her blog friends and email friends where very important and dear to her so wanted to take the time to notify you of what happenend. If you see I have left anyone off of this email list that she was close to as well, please take the a moment to inform them as well.

The memorial will take place:
Tuesday, June 7, 2011 at 7pm
First Baptist Church of Warsaw
7161 S. FM 148
Kaufman, TX 75142

Thank you -
Brittany

Brittany must be an awful lot like Ann. In her time of grief, she took the time to email her grandmother's email and blogging friends. Ann was like that. Always thinking of others regardless of the pain she was going through. The bloggersphere has lost a treasure...

Ann Skelton, we will certainly miss you down here in French Lique... God Bless You Always.